Tag Archives: Corrupt Judges

New Chief Justice, Onnoghen vows to sack more corrupt judges.

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The acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen Thursday, vowed to continue with the fight against corruption in the judiciary.

Onnoghen’s inauguration by President Muhammadu Buhari followed the expiration of the tenure of Justice Mahmud Mohammed as the CJN. The new CJN will serve in an acting capacity till his appointment is confirmed by the National Assembly.

At the brief ceremony held in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, President Buhari urged Justice Onnoghen to use his position to assist the government in tackling the three most identifiable problems of corruption, economy and physical insecurity facing the country.

Buhari noted that Onnoghen was assuming office at a trying time for the country, a situation he said required the cooperation of the judiciary to develop the country .

He stressed the need for the judiciary to specifically assist the executive in reinvigorating the country in terms of security and managing it efficiently, while making sure that the economy was resuscitated and the security of doing business was guaranteed.

Earlier in his brief remarks after? taking the oath of allegiance, Justice Onnoghen described the moment as overwhelming, but assured the president of the fullest cooperation of the third arm of government, especially at the existing stage of the nation’s development and the fight against graft.

While thanking Buhari for the confidence reposed in him, the acting CJN promised to continue from where his predecessors had stopped in the struggle to build a better judiciary for the country.

The 66 year-old Onnoghen who became a Justice of the Supreme Court in 2005, said: “?At this state in our development and thought programme, I assure you of the fullest cooperation of the third arm of government in the continuation of the war against corruption and misconduct in the judiciary.

“Where my predecessors stopped I intend to carry on from there, modify certain areas but with the general ultimate aim of having a better judiciary befitting the nation Nigeria.? Thank you for the confidence reposed in me and by the grace of God we shall succeed.”

Justice Mohammed ?urged Nigerians to assist the government “to fish out those corrupt elements within the judiciary.” Fielding questions from State House correspondents immediately after the ceremony, the former CJN said there was the need to fight with vigour in order to deliver a clean judiciary for the nation, and assist in revamping the economy for the interest of Nigerians.

Earlier at the valedictory session held in his honour, Justice Mohammed had reiterated that the independence of judiciary remained a prerequisite for efficient functioning of the society. He said the judiciary as an institution must be protected and carefully handled.

His words: “The independence of the judiciary is a condicio sine qua non for any civilised society to function effectively and peacefully. It is an institution which, more than any other, must be protected, sustained and carefully handled. We must therefore continue to guard the eternal flame of justice in our land in order to ensure that it is not extinguished.

“Where the rule of law is absent and due process disregarded, then the sentinel of civilisation is missing and I am sure we would not desire to see the results that such loss causes.”

Despite the allegations against the third arm of government, Justice Mohammed said he was proud of the judiciary, noting that Nigeria as a nation owed the sector gratitude for guarding the nation’s democracy against threatening political winds.

“Our nation owes the judiciary a debt of gratitude for standing firm in the face of contrary winds that threatened to blow our nation’s democracy off course.

“During the run-up to the 2015 elections, our judicial officers withstood immense pressure in order to guarantee a level playing field and smooth transition of government, which ensured that we were spared a re-enactment of the June 12 saga.

“In fact, the courts, thus securing the electoral process, disallowed so many frivolous matters aimed at truncating the electoral process.

“I must particularly commend the Supreme Court for refusing to be intimidated or influenced by any candidate or political party, and I make no apologies for the firm stand that we took in our decisions.

“I am proud to be a part of the Supreme Court which refused to be cowered into truncating the electoral process. I am proud to have headed this noble arm of government and steering it through some very stormy waters.

“I am proud of the Nigerian judiciary. Indeed, the need to protect the institutions of the judiciary from undue influence was a key concern of mine during my tenure,” the former CJN said.

Corrupt judges are a disgrace to Africa – NGO

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A non-government organisation has described the recent events unfolding around issues of alleged corruption of Nigeria judges as a huge embarrassment to the continent.

The Executive Director of African Renaissance Project (ARP), Dr. Kwame Kobina, stated this at Kotoka International Airport, Accra, Ghana on his way to the 4th International Conference on Democracy and the Rule of Law in Africa, scheduled for Banjul, Gambia by the weekend.

He decried the rate of decay and the spate of scandals among the judiciary in Africa as a bad sign for democracy.

According to him, Nigerian Judges are fast getting a bad reputation for themselves and the continent.

In 2013, senior Nigerian Judge who was then former Acting Chief Judge of Gambia, Justice Joseph Wowo was sacked after he was caught on tape soliciting bribes from a Dutch businessman in exchange for favourable judgment. He was planning to subvert justice in a land case pending in his court.

The accused judges, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta and Justice Inyang Okoro should be prosecuted and sanctioned without delay. There are many others.

Ricky Tarfa was once prosecuted for giving a senior judge before who he had a pending matter some ‘money for burial’. Many friends of Nigeria at times wonder about what we read in the media. How did that notorious former governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili get a perpetual injunction preventing him from being prosecuted from corruption? Where else has this happened in the world?

He called on the National Judicial Council to desist from ridiculing the temple of Justice by seeking to protect corrupt Judges and defending what he described as ‘indefensible’ allegations.

Instead what observers all over the world are expecting from them is to join President Muhammadu Buhari in the fight against corruption. According to him even in Ghana, 22 judges were arrested, arraigned and dismissed from service.

In Italy recently 16 Judges were arrested by the police and I billion Euros recovered from them.

He commended the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA) for a firm position in support of the suspension of the judges.

Kobina further stated that Nigerian judges are not all bad eggs as many of them have excelled in other parts of the continent.

He mentioned exemplary Judges like Justice Udo Udoma who once served as Chief Judge of Uganda and Justice Akinola Aguda who was formerly Chief Judge of Botswana.

The International conference is a biennial continent-wide event that brings together civil society organisations to review issues relevant to democracy and rule of law in the continent.

Corrupt Judges: “We must not use technicalities to delay justice” – Kenneth Olorogun Gbagi

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FORMER Minister of State for Education, industrialist, attorney and politician, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi is regarded with awe by many, especially in his home state, Delta. In a released statement, Mr. Gbagi reacted to the recent raid on corrupt judges by the DSS. He explicitly stated his support for the action DSS for the sting action carried out and ably backed by the Presidency.

He said; “It had been confirmed that the arrested judges were invited by the DSS before the operation but the judges have lawyers who wanted to go to court to obtain obnoxious injunctions to stop the DSS from carrying out its constitutional obligation.

 

We were told that the judges wanted to delay till Monday to go and get injunctions from the court but the DSS acted faster and swooped on them.

 

We must not use technicalities to delay the course of justice. Those who have skeleton are those who are afraid. We must enthrone probity and accountability in this country.”

 

“The DSS DG should be encouraged to ensure that he pursued the arrests to the logical conclusion. The DSS should do more work, deploy more professionals to tidy up the system.”

Femi Falana (SAN) blasts the NBA for shielding corrupt judges

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Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), on Sunday, criticised the Nigerian Bar Association for shielding corrupt judges despite having information about their activities.

He described the failure of NBA to deal with corrupt officials in the judiciary as an embarrassment to the “incorruptible members of the bar,” adding that it was responsible for the current state of the country’s judiciary.

He said this while reacting to the raid on the homes of some judges and the arrest of four of them by the Department of State Services between Friday and Saturday. The operatives of the DSS had raided the official quarters of judges at Abuja, Gombe, Kano and Port Harcourt and ended up arresting at least four judicial officers.

The arrested judicial officers comprised two Justices of the Supreme Court – Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and John Okoro – as well as Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court and another judge of the Gombe State High Court, Justice Mu’azu Pindiga.

In a statement issued at the end of the raid, the DSS alleged that the suspects had engaged in judicial misconduct and corrupt practices, adding that a huge amount of money was recovered from three of the judges.

In response to the raid, the NBA had declared a state of emergency and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the judges.

Falana, however, criticised the NBA, saying, “In particular, the Nigerian Bar Association which has information on all corrupt judges and lawyers in the country has continued to shield them to the embarrassment of incorruptible members of the bar and the bench.

“The few lawyers who have plucked up the courage to expose corrupt judges and lawyers have been stigmatised and treated like lepers by their colleagues.

“It is on record that when both the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Offences Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission sent invitation letters to judges suspected of corruption they had rushed to the Federal High Court to obtain interlocutory injunctions to prevent their arrest, investigation, and prosecution.”

He said members of the legal profession had themselves to blame for the harassment of judges by security forces as they had failed to take advantage of the relevant statutory disciplinary bodies to purge the bar and the bench of corrupt elements.

“It is on account of negligence on the part of the legal profession that the SSS which screens candidates before they are recommended by the National Judicial Council for appointment as judges has now engaged in the arrest of judges for alleged corruption and abuse of office,” he said.

Falana, however, said because the detained judges “are presumed innocent until the contrary is proved by the State, they should be admitted to bail in self-recognizance.”

He urged the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, to ensure that the judges were immediately arraigned without delay.

He lamented the state of the legal profession, saying, “It is a matter of grave concern that the legal profession has allowed the denigration of the hallowed temple of justice because of the misconduct of a few corrupt judges.

“For several years, judges who committed grave criminal offences were not prosecuted but merely retired by the authorities on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council.

“Although the National Judicial Council recently recommended the dismissal and prosecution of a judge for extorting the sum of N197m from a litigant the authorities had paid lip service to the menace of judicial corruption in the country.”

Senior Lawyers Know Corrupt Judges- CJN

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The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, on Monday, said senior lawyers in the country know corrupt judges, in view of their unguarded utterances, accusing the judiciary of corruption.

Speaking during a special session of the Supreme Court to mark the commencement of the 2015/2016 legal year and swearing-in of newly conferred Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), Justice Mohammed urged senior lawyers to fish out the identity of the corrupt judges, so that they can be properly dealt with by the National Judicial Council (NJC).

“I regard as unfortunate, unguarded comments of some prominent members of the Bar, that the Judiciary is corrupt.  Such comments coming  from the members of the Bar means that they know the identity of the corrupt judges and as such, they should fish them out to be dealt with by the NJC,” Justice Mohammed stated.

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